SWIFT

A week ago we highlight the "last bubble standing" was finally bursting, and as China's corporate bond bubble deflates rapidly, it appears investors are catching on to the contagion possibilities this may involve as one analyst warns "the cost has built up in the form of corporate credit risks and bank risks for the whole economy."As Bloomberg reports, local issuers have canceled 61.9 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) of bond sales in April alone, and Standard & Poor’s is cutting its assessment of Chinese firms at a pace unseen since 2003. Simply put, the unprecedented boom in China’s $3 trillion corporate bond market is starting to unravel.

A funny thing happened when US slapped a major tariff on China's steel exports... prices exploded higher. But the almost 50% surge in steel prices since mid-December back to 15-month highs have left traders equally split on what happens next. Will record production levels exaggerate a global glut amid tumbling exports and rising tariffs, or will China's trillion-dollar surge in credit fuel yet more so-called "iron rooster" projects driving domestic demand even higher. For now, it appears the former is more likely as US Trade reps suggested further protectionism looms.

To challenge the US dollar hegemony and increase its power in the global realm of finance, China has a potent gold strategy. Whilst the State Council is preparing itself for the inevitable decay of the current international monetary system, it has firmly embraced gold in its economy. With a staggering pace the government has developed the Chinese domestic gold market, stimulated private gold accumulation and increased its official gold reserves in order to ensure financial stability and support the internationalisation of the renminbi.

Yesterday Italy announced that it had taken the long-anticipated first step to alleviate investor concerns surrounding the stability of the banking system. Local banks, insurers, and asset managers have agreed to fund a €5 billion backstop for these troubled loans. Speculation of the imminent deal had sent Italian (and European) bank stocks soaring yesterday. The deal is named Atlante, or Atlas, after the mythological god who held up the sky. This is appropriate, as it truly is a myth to believe that setting aside 1.5% to resolve a €360 billion bad debt problem will solve anything.

The alienation between Germany and the ECB has reached a new level. Back in deutsche mark times, Europeans often joked that the Germans "may not believe in God, but they believe in the Bundesbank," as Germany's central bank is called. Today, though, when it comes to relations between the ECB and the German population, people are more likely to speak of "parallel universes."... Should it come to helicopter money, Berlin would have to consider taking the ECB to court to clarify the limits of its mandate. In other words: the German government and Draghi's ECB would be adversaries in a public court case.

"We could lose a decade of economic growth in three or four years," one official exclaims, "in other words, a decade of growth would be lost during Dilma’s mandate if she continues on as president." This recession, and concurrent high inflation, has been magnified by the biggest scandal in political memory...“It is considered common sense now that she will be impeached. Only a miracle can save her. All the factors are pushing that way."

"Cheap oil has become “too much of a good thing” for growth", according to Goldman which in an "analysis" concludes "that the net effect of cheap oil on growth has probably been negative so far, with the capex collapse outweighing the consumption boost. Which is a confirmation of everything we have said since late 2014.

It may be almost impossible to underestimate the gullibility of professional Fed watchers. At least Lucy van Pelt needed to place an actual football on the ground to fool poor Charlie Brown. But in today’s high stakes game of Federal Reserve mind reading, the Fed doesn’t even have to make a halfway convincing bluff to make the markets look foolish.

Lars Schall explores the time-honored tradition of following the money in an attempt to discover answers to yet unresolved questions regarding the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York City. Mr. Schall is an independent investigative journalist that has produced many hard-hitting pieces regarding Central Bankers' manipulation of gold prices, and the failure of the US Central Bank (The Federal Reserve) to return all of Germany's gold reserves in the past.

"It's good for workers, but I imagine this is not going to be good news for employers and small businesses Will the cost of things go up? Are employers going to cut back hours because they can't afford it? I worry" -- Miguel Sanchez, tortilla maker

The incredible story behind the cyber heist that resulted in an $81 million loss for the central bank of Bangladesh continues to get more intriguing. Bangladesh is looking to sue the NY Fed for lapses in protocol, while Philippine officials race to untangle a complex web of bad actors and shady go-betweens that looks like it may lead back to one Kim Wong, who 15 years ago was accused of connecting then-Senator Panfilo Lacson to drug lords. Meanwhile, a cyber security expert who spoke to the police and the media was kidnapped from a motorized rickshaw by men in plainclothes who blindfolded him, threw him in a vehicle, and drove away.

From the NY Fed, to a local branch of a commercial bank in the Philippines, to a remittances company, to three casinos, and then... nothing. A cold trail. Who's at the end of the central bank heist rabbit hole? And do any of the people along the paper trail actually know who's pulling the strings?

Nefarious foreign hackers, blacked out CCTV systems, corrupt local bank managers, shifty go-betweens, and $30 million in cash delivered to an anonymous man of "Chinese origin" who disappeared into the shadows of Manila and will likely never be heard from again. This story has it all. It even has Bill Dudley.